


The Shield

by numberzero (aaeiilnn)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison is trying but also failing, Fake Police Diego Hargreeves, Found Family, Found Friendship?, Friendship, Gen, Good Friend Klaus Hargreeves, In this house, Kinda, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, almost Abusive Relationship, but also was he really sober in this fic?, but then, drug relapse, ex-bf almost hit her, he did cheat on her tho that bastard, i just want klaus to have a friend, is that too much to ask, its not detailed tho idk much about it, made before S2 was released, no klaus is not the ex-bf, the other six are actually barely here but, this is not a love story, we support dave and klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero
Summary: "Do you know about the Umbrella Academy?"Rita furrowed her eyebrows and thought back. "Isn't that some stupid propaganda with kids back then? Comic book?"She looked up after a few moments of silence to see Klaus looking at her, speechless. "What?""It's not just a comic book story. The Umbrella Academy thing was very much real.""Kids with superpowers?" Rita shot him a look. "Sounds like a comic book to me."OR,Rita just wanted to do her grocery shopping, not become a therapist for a 'misguided and grieving soul'. His words, not hers.! Not a love story !
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Original Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 110





	The Shield

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [We'll Be Okay](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/662224) by hade5. 



> ✓ This is NOT a love story. I just wanted found family and found friends! I just wanted Klaus to have friends!! Like someone who would realize he got kidnapped!!! I will be the first to join his cult in S2 I think.  
> ✓ I tried to keep Klaus and everyone in character here, but it's been a while since I've watched the show and I haven't read the comics. I might edit some scenes if i rewatch the show.  
> -> I am kind of sorry Klaus sometimes sounds like an old lady.  
> ✓ I had this idea ever since the show came out and only forced myself to write it now so that IF the new season happens and I get ✨inspired✨, I'm at least done with this one.  
> -> Forcing myself to make this has resulted into me making my longest one shot yet, which has caught me completely off guard.  
> -> One of my two goals for July was posting this before the new season comes out so hurrah to me for succeeding!

• • • ☂︎ • • • _beginning_ • • • ☂︎ • • •

"YOU!" It was a miracle that Rita Lewis was able to stop herself from screaming when a stranger had grabbed her arm in the middle of her grocery shopping. He was pale with tattoos, dark, curly hair, dark eyes, and he was the same height as her. 

She didn't pull away. Weirdly enough, her first instinct was just to twist her arm and grab his instead. This seemed to have some sort of effect as his eyes snapped back into focus. "I don't even know you!" She had shouted in reply, complete confusion and disbelief at the situation just clouding her mnd. 

"Oh. Well," the stranger mumbled his words, "I just... Your hair!" He exclaimed, reaching out to touch the tips of her bright, red, curly hair. "It's really... wow. It reminds me of my father."

She sent him a weird look. "Alright. That's nice..."

"He's dead. Passed away in his sleep a while back."

"Oh." Because what else do you say in this situation? "My condolences, then."

"Really?" He asked, and suddenly his eyes were welling up with tears. "I mean... The old man's really gone. And it's been a really long day. I saw your hair and I just—" He made a gesture with his hands, mimicking a bomb blowing up. 

The exchange made Rita feel bad for raising her voice earlier. Ever since she was young, she was always told to remember that she doesn't know everyone's story — and yet, there she goes, shouting at a man who is clearly distressed. 

She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You'll get through this."

"Would you have coffee with me?" 

She blinked. It was like all traces of sadness just disappeared. "What?" 

"Coffee." Suddenly, he was pouting and sad again. "You know, to get my mind off of the bad stuff."

Rita sighed. "Listen, I don't know what you're thinking, but I only recently got out of a bad relationship and—" 

"No, no. Red, I'm gay." He interrupted. "Just please have coffee with me? I want someone to sort of vent all my feelings and emotions to, y'know? I was told that that was healthy."

"Yeah, if you go to a therapist." But before Rita could say anything else, he had grabbed her by the hand and all but dragged her away from her shopping. Despite all the warning signs, her instincts told her this wasn't dangerous. And her instinct usually wins out, so she just let him do so and ended up drowning in the rambling he started to do. 

His name is Klaus, he has 6 siblings, he used to do drugs, and he did not let go of her hand the entire time. 

As much as she tried to get away at first, once she realized he was leading her to a coffee shop rather than some dark alley, she just went along with it. Plus, he looked like a child that's terribly relieved and grounded to be holding her hand and, dammit, her friends always told her she's a default mom-friend type of person. So, she held his hand, encouraged his ramblings and stories (all of which were incredibly interesting and wild, there's a possibility he made some of them up), and lent an ear to this 'misguided and grieving soul'. His words, not hers.

But an hour and a half passed, she's sure what grocery she's gathered has been returned to the shelves, it was getting dark, and she needed to go. "The old lady who lives across my apartment gets so worried when I get back late."

Klaus looked at the sky through the window. "Oh dear, I didn't even realize! And you've been so kind to me, you didn't get to finish your shopping." He frowned unapologetically.

"It's fine." Rita shook her head as she stood up. "At least I got to hear all sorts of the weirdest stories from you. When would I ever be able to do that again?"

He narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything in response. Within five minutes, they've said goodbyes and parted ways, Klaus finally letting go of her hand (but looking quite reluctant to do so).

• • • ☂︎ • • •

Rita was standing in grocery aisle 3 for the second time in the same week, holding two types of pancake batter in her hands. She was reading every single bit of detail and was trying to understand what was the difference between her usual one to the new one that the same brand had released at a higher price, but she just couldn't find anything in particular. Too focused on what she was doing, Rita didn't notice the person entering the aisle she was in until they had called her attention.

A dramatic gasp. "Oh, _hello_! Rita, is that you?" Rita startled a bit and turned to find a familiar face beaming back at her and arms opened as if ready to hug her. "Unbelievable! I didn't expect to find you here."

She furrowed her eyebrows and stayed put. "You knew I didn't finish my grocery and decided to check if I'd be here today as well, didn't you?"

"Don't make it sound like it's a bad thing." He replied in a playfully reprimanding tone. "For all you know, this was a coincidence. Or I just decided to do a bit of grocery shopping myself and chose to also pay for yours considering you were so generous with your time yesterday. This one is better." He plucked the pancake batter she usually buys out of her hands, dropped it in the cart, and took over in pushing it. 

Rita blinked and returned the other pack to the shelves. "Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Come here so you can pay for these." She gestured to the contents of the half-full grocery cart.

A. beat "Maybe."

She paused the cart as she took something from the shelf and placed it in, but continued to let him control it. "Did you even bring money?"

"Huh. I didn't." Klaus tapped his chin thoughtfully, his elbows leaning on the handles of the cart. "How am I supposed to pay for the food I'm gonna buy now?"

Rita moved so that she was standing in front of the cart, right across Klaus. "I have no idea what exactly you want from me. You say I remind you of your father who passed away—"

"Oh, bless his soul. And also damn him."

"—but it doesn't seem like it to me. You're making me pay for the things you're going to buy—"

"Oh, come on. It'd probably be just a couple of dollars. I'll pay you back!"

"You also said that you're gay—"

"Sorry, no, clarification: I'm pan. But still not interested in dating you, no offense. I consider myself taken."

"You say that, but you ask me out to coffee, you're constantly holding my hand, and now you're, what, stalking me?"

"I told you this was a complete coincidence!"

"Bullshit, don't fucking lie to me." Rita threw her hands up. 

Klaus threw his own up in surrender. "Woah, alright, fine. No need for fucking cursing. What if I tell you I'm really just interested as a friend? Can't we be friends?"

Rita narrowed her eyes at him and was about to reply when she noticed a familiar figure at the end of the aisle wearing a red and blue jacket she knew all too well. She cursed once more, slided to stand beside Klaus, and held his hand tight.

He instinctively squeezed back but looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "As much as I love holding hands with you, and I really do, I honestly did mean just friends. Flattered, but—"

"Shut up and pretend to be my boyfriend." She hissed back with a forced smile. "My ex is behind us and he's the type of guy that only steps away from a girl when she's got another guy around so—"

"Well, in that case." Klaus looped his arm around her shoulder, without letting go of her hand. "Sweetheart, would you like to buy some chocolate chips? We could make cookies over the weekend, as long as there's no raisins."

Rita sent him a thankful smile and batted his hand away from the pack of chocolate. "We still have some of those at home, no need for more. Come on, honey, next aisle."

The ex-boyfriend kept trailing behind them throughout their entire trip around the store and neither of them gave any indication of even noticing him. (Except that one time Rita saw Klaus attempted to push some of the items on the top shelf so that maybe it would fall on him. Didn't work though.) The pet names kept coming until it became a bit of a game, and their hands stayed together the entire time.

"Oh, buttercup, I forgot my wallet!" Klaus exclaimed at the cashier. "Light of my life, how are we going to pay for this now?"

Rita smiled at him and patted his cheek amusedly. "It's okay, starlight, I can pay for us today. No need to worry excessively, princeling." Klaus nodded in agreement but kept a pout on his face. 

They leave the store with three bags of grocery between them. The fake relationship is continued until they reach the end of the street and Rita faces him. "I think we should break up. This is so on you, not me."

Klaus gasped, a hand to his chest. "How dare you? I was the perfect boyfriend for all of 20 minutes!"

Rita laughed. "In all honesty, thank you. We didn't end on a good note, so I really didn't want to talk to him or even see his face."

"No problem, are you good from here? Shall I escort you to your humble abode, princess?" He gave an exaggerated bow. The redhead only waved him off and took the two bags he had been carrying. 

"I won't invite a stalker to my house, you weirdo."

"And here I thought you were a master of pet names." Klaus huffed. "'Moondust' was my particular favorite, but now you've resorted to 'weirdo' and lost all the points."

Rita rolled her eyes. "You're one to talk. Do you seriously think 'bushfire' is a good pet name?"

"Listen! I was thinking of a rose bush, because your hair is red, then I thought, _well, what else is red?_ and my mind immediately came up with fire, but my mouth did not seem to get the memo to separate those two ideas."

She laughed once more before surprising him with a hug. "I still think you could be a stalker, but I'm really thankful for what you did. I'll be on my way now."

"Oh, alright. I can see when I'm not wanted." He glared at her playfully when she pulled away. "You get home safe, firefly. Ooh, how about that? That's a good pet name!"

"Bye Klaus!"

• • • ☂︎ • • •

A week later, Rita was in front of the cafe, wearing an apron, and trying to stay calm.

"For fuck's sake, Marcus, you can't barge into my work and cause a disturbance just to see me!"

"I'm your boyfriend, I ca—"

"No. You're not. Get that through your damn head! We broke up weeks ago, fucking leave me alone!" She shouted, getting more and more frustrated but not wanting to cause disturbance to the customers still inside. The cafe isn't soundproof, she's sure her co-workers can hear their argument.

"You do not get to break up with me." Marcus growled. "If anyone's dumping someone it would be—"

"Well, too fucking late! I dumped you already, we're over and it's because you're an absolute dick! GO. AWAY."

Rita saw his face turn red in anger and his arm raised quickly to hit her. But before she could even do something about it, Marcus was pushed away by someone else.

"What THE FUCK? Are you, perhaps, deaf? She shouted at you to go away and you're going to hit her? Can your legs not move? Or does your brain not process things properly so you mixed up 'hitting someone' with 'going away'?" Klaus taunted and remained standing between Marcus and Rita.

Marcus glared at him and moved to push him out of the way when someone else came to stop him.

"Police here. Is there a problem?" This other guy shoved a badge on Marcus's face, which caused him to stumble back. "Shall I take you somewhere you can't bother other people? The station, maybe?"

Marcus huffed and rolled his eyes before it landed on Rita. "You're damn lucky, Lewis."

"What was that?" The police raised an eyebrow. "It sounded like a threat." But Marcus had already mumbled an insincere apology of some sort and was quickly walking away from the scene. "You alright?"

"Yeah, he's just... really dumb and crazy." She smiled gratefully at the police officer. "Glad you both came to my rescue."

"Doubt you needed it." Klaus muttered.

Rita nodded. "Well, yeah. But I would have just kept slamming his head to the ground, then I would have been the one arrested." She gestured to the officer.

"Ah, no. See, I'm not actually a cop." He brought out the badge. "Fake. Bought it at eBay. It's really cheap and convenient.

"Diego." Klaus introduced him to Rita. "He's my brother. Diego, this is Rita."

"Oh!" Rita furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "The one who you pushed down the fountain one time?"

"No, that's another brother. This is the one who pushed  _ me _ into the fountain."

"So, you two know each other?" Diego's eyes went back and forth between the two. "And you're not some ghost or something?" He directed the question at Rita, who looked absolutely confused.

"Why would I—?"

"Well! Diego! I think you should take your weird thoughts and walk to your favorite gym now, hmm?" Klaus moved and put an arm around Rita's shoulder, an action that now seemed terribly familiar and comfortable. "Go punch some people while Rita and I do a bit of catching up. Bye now!"

He didn't wait for a reply and steered Rita to go inside the cafe, despite her trying to wave goodbye and give her thanks once more. "Is that an apron from here? Do you work here? Oh, is that why you wanted to go here instead of some place else?"

"Don't play dumb, Klaus. You were the one who dragged me here last week. I had no say at all." Rita reminded as she began removing the apron. "Thanks again, for what just happened. He doesn't know when to stop, and he knew my schedule ends at this time so he just barged in here shouting and demanded to see me. I only went with him so that the customers aren't bothered."

One of the people behind the counter rushed to meet them as they entered. "Rita, thank god! Are you good? I was this close to calling the police, but you said not to."

"I'm fine, Martha. Thank you." Rita rubbed her eyes. "Is that a hot chocolate?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I made your favorite because you had to deal with all that again. I brought your stuff out as well so you could go home and take a rest." She pointed at the bag placed at one of the empty tables. "This lovely young man can go accompany you so you're safe, yes?" She smiled encouragingly at Klaus before ushering them out with more mumbles of 'stay safe' and 'be careful'.

"Can I ask now?" Klaus said when they turned a corner, the same time he also stole her cup of hot chocolate. "I've been really curious since we had to do the fake relationship thing. But I've been holding back because of, you know, social cues or whatever it's called."

Rita glared as she took her hot chocolate back, leading them to sit on the swings at a playground nearby. "You've been forgetting all sorts of socially acceptable behaviors ever since I met you. Don't hold back on me now, Klaus."

He grinned at her. "What's the story, hmm? Is he in a gang or something? Is the story exciting?"

"Nope," she replied. "We broke up because of different beliefs. We were dating for almost a year and I realized I forgot to tell him I was bi."

Klaus shuddered, knowing what was coming. "Ugh, homophobic. How disgusting."

"Yeah, so difference in beliefs. He thought it was impossible for me to be bi since I was dating him. And I thought it unacceptable for him to be fucking a different girl on the same bed we fucked on the day before."

"Absolutely unacceptable." Klaus nodded grimly. "They didn't even invite you?" He held his hands up in surrender at the glare she gave him, her hands threatening to throw the hot chocolate at him. "I'm just saying! Prove bisexuality by going there and making the girl feel better than he did, which is probably the easiest thing ever. Then break up with him and go out with the girl instead."

Rita shook her head and looked at him with curious eyes. "I'm feeling like you've got more wild stories up your sleeves. Hit me with 'em, moondust."

• • • ☂︎ • • •

Rita exited the cab, much to the dismay of the old man driving it. Gary, the driver, had been telling her stories of his five kids — one had passed away, two don't bother to keep in touch, and the other two still live in the same house as him. He started when Rita politely asked if he could turn down the music, and had still tried to squeeze in a few more words as she left. 

On a less tiring day, Rita might have listened attentively and even asked questions of her own, but she felt exhausted after travelling to see some friends. She woke up at 6 in the morning and was now feeling the effects of not getting enough sleep. Of course, she could have slept in the cab but she felt it would be rude to fall asleep while Gary told his stories.

Walking her way to her place, there's always this dark alley she had to pass by. It never really bothered or scared her since it was relatively empty except from some old furniture discarded by the people who lived in that area. But this time, she definitely heard some sort of sound from that alley. She stopped in her tracks and stared, confused and thinking she must have heard wrong. Yet there was a sound again, and she took a step forward thinking it was some sort of dog that needed help. Then another sound followed and she took a step back because that definitely sounded like some person mumbling.

Rita shook her head and walked forward determinedly, clutching her phone with the flashlight turned on to see better in the dark. She knew what she was about to do wasn't exactly advisable, but she wouldn't have been able to sleep at night knowing that there was someone there who might be in danger and she just left them. 

Black shoes came into view and she froze for a second, thinking it was a corpse. Whoever it was made another sound and it sent her moving quickly to find a body lying face down beside an old cabinet. She turned them over and froze again, this time for a bit longer.

Klaus's hair was messy, like he'd been running his hands through it and pulling. There was dirt all over his face, neck, hands, and everywhere that wasn't covered by clothes. He looked pale as he always does, but his eyes were closed and it terrified Rita.

"Klaus!" She tapped his cheek, hoping to get a response of some sort and was rewarded with his eyes fluttering open. "Klaus, what the fuck happened?! Do you know what happened? Where you are? Do I call for an ambulance?"

He mumbled incoherently.

"Klaus," she repeated, gently shaking him to keep his attention. "Fuck." She cursed before reaching for her phone in her pocket. But before she could even dial, Klaus' hands pushed it away until he was only holding her hand.

"No," Klaus mumbled, seeming to come back to his senses. "It's not bad. Just…"

"Are you okay? Of course, you're not. What happened?"

"Drugs."

Rita closed her eyes and held herself back from flicking his forehead. "I thought you said you were done with that."

"I was. I was." Klaus moved his head on her lap, as if trying to get comfortable. "Bad day. Like extra bad."

Rita sighed and pushed his hair out of his face before trying to lift him up. "Come on, let's get you home."

He obviously hated that idea and chose to curl up, leaning on the cabinet that looked like it was about to give in because of his weight. "That's the worst idea you've ever had, Red."

"You can't stay here!"

"Eh, I've stayed in worse."

"Klaus!"

"Shh. Sleeping."

Rita moved forward to pull him up again. "Come on, stay at mine." At that, Klaus opened one eye, then another, and suddenly became much easier to move. "Can you walk?"

He shrugged. "Not well. It's been a while since I, well..."

She helped him walk safely by throwing his arm around her shoulders and supporting him. By the time they reached her building, he was out again and was mumbling all sorts of things that made no sense. 

Before she knew it, the sun was rising and signalling a new day. Most of the night was spent caring for Klaus after he passed out on the couch. It was supposed to be easy, given that he was passed out, but she didn't consider the nightmares that would cause him to scream in his sleep. Rita woke up four times in the night for that reason, and all the anger or frustration she had kept slipping away when she saw him struggling under the blankets and crying without waking up.

On the fifth time, she woke up on her own accord and went to her kitchen. Her apartment was a small place and everything except her bathroom and bedroom were all in one area. A cup of hot chocolate waited for her by the counter while she fixed up a small breakfast. 

"Huh, red hair. Rita?" She turned to see Klaus seeming to come to his senses. He blinked slowly several times as he looked around. "Is this your humble home? Finally stopped thinking of me as a weird stalker?"

"Maybe I dropped the 'stalker'. Not so much the 'weird'." Rita replied curtly as she set aside two waffles she made. "Get on the damn chair, Klaus." She gestured to the small table where she usually eats.

He must have noticed that she wasn't in the mood because he wisely kept his mouth shut and dragged himself to take a seat. A cup of hot chocolate was placed in front of him and, later on, Rita joined him with a cup of her own and two plates stacked the waffles. Syrup and butter were placed on the middle of the table.

"Eat."

"My thanks." Klaus bowed his head but kept his silence. Unfortunately, the silence lasted a grand total of thirty seconds because — "These are the best waffles I've ever had. And the hot chocolate? Beautiful combination. I don't even like hot chocolate usually."

"What happened, Klaus?" Rita asked, not acknowledging the (sincere) compliments for the breakfast she made. "You said you were done with the drugs, then I find you looking like death in some dark alley!"

"Bad day. Really bad day." There were no further explanations from Klaus or follow-up questions from Rita. "It was just really, really terrible. Caught me off guard and I fell back to my habit."

"Do you think you'll do it again?"

He shrugged. 

"What about your brothers? You mentioned before they helped you?" She recalled one of Klaus' many stories and the brother with the fake police badge.

Klaus huffed. "They don't need to know about this. The sibling thing is one of the problems yesterday. I bet it's because we're all adopted, that's always seemed to be an issue."

"Oh, I didn't know you were adopted. Did you go to an orphanage or..."

"Nope, the old man — remember him? — took me and the others in before we landed in one."

Rita tilted her head, listening. "Nice of him to give you all a home, then."

"Was it?" The bitterness in his tone was poorly concealed. It was faint, but it was there. "Was it nice? Was it a home? All topics up for debate, really."

"Hmm." Rita sighed. "See, I was one of the kids left at an orphanage's door and never got adopted. The people there were nice and some kids I grew up with are still my friends, but there was always a part of me that wondered about the 'what if?'."

"There were fun days with my siblings, but it's not always rainbows and sunshine." Klaus looked at her with wide eyes as if trying to stick the message into her head. 

Rita nodded in agreement, remembering certain cases she had seen back then. She watched him for a second before standing and retrieving a piece of paper and pen. "Here," she passed to him after writing, "that's my phone number. Next time things like this happen and you need help, you call me. Understand?"

Klaus took the paper and stared at it for a while. "I was looking for you, you know? It's how I ended up in that alley. I was kind of hoping I'd catch you on your way home since you apparently didn't have a shift in the cafe and the other barista there wouldn't tell me how to find you."

"We're not allowed to do that."

"I know, but still." Klaus shrugged and pocketed the paper. He focused on the food again.

"Tell me more stories about your siblings. If that's okay with you, of course." Rita prompted as she also continued eating. "We could talk about something else.

Klaus considered her for a moment. "Do you know about the Umbrella Academy?"

"The what?"

"Umbrella Academy. And no, it's not some school about umbrellas. You must have heard about it."

Rita furrowed her eyebrows and thought back. "Isn't that some stupid propaganda with kids back then?"

Klaus froze and stared at her. "Propaganda?"

"Propaganda, movement, publicity stunt, whatever." Rita shrugged, still focused mainly on eating. "They're some comic book, right? Then there was some publicity stunt after it? Or was the comic book based on the propaganda? Was it, like, teaching kids to be strong or whatever?"

She looked up after a few moments of silence to see Klaus looking at her, speechless. "What?"

"It's not just a comic book story. The Umbrella Academy thing was very much real."

"Kids with superpowers?" Rita shot him a look. "Sounds like a comic book to me."

"Wow." Klaus kept staring at her with a look of surprise. "This was a huge thing back then! Those 'kids with superpowers' stopped a lot of crimes!"

Rita nodded, obviously confused at the sudden passion Klaus is showing. "Right, vigilante superhero kids with superpowers. Comic books."

He groaned at her words.

"Look, they're a group of adopted siblings who, weirdly enough — dammit, I know it's hard to believe, but just hear me out — were born with unique powers."

"Mhmm." Rita nodded, continuing her meal. "And you relate because of the adopted situation?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes but pushed through with determination. "There's Number One, who has, uhh, super strength, I guess. He was also the leader. Number Two has this 'if-you-can-throw-it-you-can-control-it power he usually uses with knives. Number Three is—"

"Why are you just counting them? Do they not have names?"

"They weren't really named. It's just Number One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven. Ranked by their usefulness." Klaus tilted his head. "Well, technically, it was only up to Six in the comics."

"The heck, they don't even have names?" 

"If we talk about all that, we have to talk about the entire family background, and, ugh, I am not here for the traumatic road trip down memory lane." Klaus waved it all off. "Just know: Sir Reginald may have been rich with billions in his pocket, but he was not the best dad."

"A billionaire?" Klaus nodded. "Eat the damn rich."

Klaus laughed at that before returning to the topic. "Number Three can kinda control your actions — she's a famous actress now, actually. Allison Hargreeves. Have you heard of her?"

"Nope. So, she was a child actress for that comic book thing, then?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" He exclaimed, looking frustrated and amused at the same time. "The next one is Number Four, and he's going to be your absolute favorite. He can talk to the dead and basically creeps the criminals out by telling them secrets only the dead know."

"Shit." Rita scrunched up her nose. "That's most terrifying so far. And he's just a kid?"

"Yes."

"That's so horrible, though?" Rita frowned. "Imagine, you're just a child, but you're seeing dead people you don't even know. Would he see them in the way that they died or...?" She shuddered. "Nope, I can't. I'm an adult, but even I wouldn't be able to handle it. Move on."

Klaus took another bite of his waffle before continuing. "Number Five can teleport. Number Six can sort of channel weird creatures. Like his key move is channeling these tentacles through his arms and he just kills people through that. Number Seven wasn't really a part of the story back then, but if you were a true fan, you'd know she existed."

"Kill?" Rita paused. "These kids from the comic books would kill people? The children kill people?"

"That's what bothers you? Not the tentacles?" Klaus wriggled his fingers about. "And I told you: it's not comic books. It's real-life."

Rita rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, fine. You seem really enthusiastic about this. Must have been a huge fan, huh?"

Klaus shook his head. "Nah, it was more of a love-hate relationship, really."

• • • ☂︎ • • •

The next few weeks go by as usual. Rita actually gets promoted to manager in the cafe, but that really just means more responsibility. There's two new recruits she has to train and one of them is an angel while the other is testing her patience. She didn't think it was possible for someone to mess up this badly, since they weren't just carelessly hired and were actually handpicked by the lovely owner, Martha. But four different broken mugs and a machine that needs some minor repairs later, Rita was starting to question Martha's way of hiring.

The questioning would have to wait as her shift just ended and Rita couldn't wait to just sit in her apartment in silence, just to recharge her energy and patience. But the man waving exaggeratedly at her from across the street tells her that the recharging would have to wait, too.

She saw Klaus skipping across the road to get to her the moment she stepped outside. Once again, he was wearing this black skirt that he swears was his but she has a sneaking suspicion he stole it from his sister. They've seen each other several times since she found him passed out in an alley a couple of weeks back. Other than that, Klaus has taken advantage of having her number by calling whenever he can and telling her some anecdote or, at one instance, reciting an entire script of some dumb, funny play he found in his house. 

"Hello, bushfire!"

"I thought you were going with firefly?"

He shook his head. "I don't think it has much of an impact, do you? Anyway, I have a surprise of some sorts for you."

Rita narrowed her eyes. "Is this where you take me to some dark basement with moulds, tell me you're actually a murderer and then kill me?"

"Ugh," Klaus groaned as he moved to stand beside her and link their arms together. "The distrust! Unbearable!" He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, as if fainting.

"Your dramatic flair!" She mimicked his tone and actions. "Unnecessary." Deadpan. "Just tell me you're gonna kill me and get it over with."

"I meant the distrust about the basement." Klaus tutted. "We've been such wonderful friends for a while now. If I was going to kill you, it'd be by that beach you always wanted to go to."

"Aww, how sweet of you."

"Anything for little miss bushfire." They grinned at each other. "Anyway, I have no choice but to reveal my secrets now. Mind you, I wasn't really hiding them, but I wasn't telling it straight out either."

Rita was really beginning to appreciate her friendship with Klaus. It's been so long since she could just hang out with a friend and talk about all kinds of stuff since most of her friends had busy lives and lived in another city altogether. Klaus now knows things about Rita that some of those friends never even heard of. On the other hand, she also knows so much about Klaus as well because she loved hearing his stories, no matter how weird. Still, it's a bit unnerving to see Klaus looking slightly nervous underneath the chattering when she's always seen him confident and not caring about what others were thinking. 

"—keeps bothering me about it and—" Klaus sighed. "Siblings are just very nosy nowadays. They get suspicious when we make friends because of that incident."

"So, what? You can't make friends?"

"More like, we don't usually make friends." Klaus patted her head. "You're a special one, bushfire. Not everyone gets the honor to be called my friend."

Rita just rolled her eyes but mostly kept silent as they continued walking. Suddenly, Klaus pulled her to the side, into this big mansion-like place. She caught a glimpse of a slightly faded sign on the side of the building and it had her thoughts running as she was rushed into what looked like the living room with a bar at the side.

Normally, she would have been looking around to see as much as she can (and there was a lot to see in this place), but, for now, she kept her eyes on Klaus sitting comfortably on one of the stools at the bar, mixing a drink of some sorts. He gestured for her to take one, but she declined.

"Did I read that right?"

"Hmm?"

"Outside." Rita gestured to the way they came from. "There was a sign. 'Umbrella Academy', it said."

"Oh, yes." Klaus nodded. "I forgot there's a sign there."

"Are we breaking into this...place?" Rita now looked around nervously. "Was this where they'd do the propaganda things?"

Klaus placed his drink on the table and walked to her. "No. And I told you, Umbrella Academy was very much real. With that said, I believe it is proper host etiquette for me to greet you and say 'Welcome to my humble abode' but this place isn't very humble and I'm not very much a fan of etiquette despite you trying to drill it in me. This is just so you don't think we're here illegally and suddenly run out screaming. This is where I live."

Rita stared at him, processing. "With your six siblings." A follow-up statement rather than a question.

"Yes."

"You're part of the Umbrella Academy."

"Mhmm."

"Not just a big, obsessed fan?"

"I'm more of a hater, let's be honest. Their worst critic."

"You said the kids have superpowers."

"We're not kids now, but yes."

Rita blinked. "Which one are you?"

Klaus tilted his head. "Take a guess."

She breathed in and took another look around the area before focusing on Klaus again. "You're Number Four, aren't you?"

"Do I just give off that deathly aura?" Klaus exclaimed before turning back to his drink. "How did you know?"

"Took a guess." Klaus pointed at her to acknowledge her point and put an arm around her shoulder to direct her somewhere else. "Where are we going?"

"My room, obviously. Isn't that usually what friends do when they visit each other's houses?" He sipped at his drink. "And I think it's just fair since I've seen yours."

The room was pretty normal. There were some faded posters and things scattered about. She stood in the middle for a second, turning in a circle once to take it all in, before taking a seat at the edge of the bed. It was silent for a while, the view from the window showed the sky slowly turning dark.

"So, you're a rich kid, huh?"

"That's your takeaway?" Klaus asked as he also settled in on the bed. He declared the pillows too uncomfortable and decided to lay his head on Rita's lap, forcing her to move until her back rested against the wall. "What is with you not looking at the important part of the picture?"

"Number Four, huh?" They were silent for a second once more. Klaus had his eyes closed and looked as if he was ready to fall asleep. "How's that?"

"You're the first to look at it in that perspective without being prompted." He mumbled, sleep really seeming to take over him slowly. "To see that a child would've been so fucking terrified. Daddy dearest would lock me up in a graveyard type of place until I got over that fear. Couldn't sleep for days. Or was it weeks?"

"Well, that's dumb." And he hummed in agreement. "Have you ever seen any around me? Most of the people I was ever close with are still alive but I lost a friend or two when I was younger."

"Hmm." Klaus' voice was becoming softer. "I never see ghosts when I'm around you. It's interesting, really. That's the reason I got into drugs. The voices and spirits and whatever, they don't show up all that well when I'm high."

"You seem to be getting better now, though." Rita pointed out.

"Yeah, there was this entire thing and I had to go through it sober. And remember when I told you about Dave? My best relationship ever? I see him sometimes too, so that's good. There's Ben, too." There was a soft smile on his face.

"Anyway. Being around you, especially in contact, like this?" He lazily lifted a hand to tap lightly at her own which had found itself absentmindedly attempting to braid Klaus's hair. "When I'm around you, there's like this barrier and the others can't get through. It's stronger when we're touching, and weak when it's just a call or something, but it's still there. Helps. Like the drugs."

Rita's hands paused as she considered his words, but, later on, continued. There's not exactly a manual to things like what if your, apparently, superhero friend needs you as a drug substitute to avoid his trauma? She'll go over this entire problem when she gets home tonight. Maybe over a cup of tea instead of her usual hot chocolate.

When Klaus looked like he was completely asleep, she slipped away, carefully tugging her other hand which he somehow had a tight grip over. She walked as softly as she could across the room and didn't shut the door all the way in fear of waking him up. The dark circles she's been seeing under his eyes ever since she met him has gotten better (a testament to how she helps him, maybe?), but she always did feel like he should be resting more.

In her head, as she tiptoes across the hallway to the exit, she wonders if this is how people who have one night stands feel when they have to sneak out in the morning. But it was too weird to consider it in that context since Klaus was becoming more like a family at this point.

Rita was too absorbed in her thoughts and making sure she didn't make too much noise that she didn't notice two figures by the sitting room confusedly staring at her as she left.

• • • ☂︎ • • •

"You disappeared!" A voice greeted, making Rita look up from the cashier, her usual greeting forgotten. "I woke up from the best sleep I have had in a while and you were gone!"

The employee she was training sent her a knowing glance which she quickly dismissed. "Dammit, Klaus, I have a reputation to maintain."

"Oh please," Klaus leaned on the counter. "Even if we did have sex and the news spread, your reputation would just go up. I mean, look at me! What a catch!" He twirled around with his arms spread open.

"Do not flatter yourself, Klaus." Rita shook her head. "Don't lie to yourself either."

"That's a way to treat a customer." Klaus muttered as he scanned the baked goods on display. "You're not getting a tip from me, that's for sure."

Rita raised an eyebrow. "Are you really buying?"

"One of your famous hot chocolates, please, and do you see that table there?" He pointed to a table with six people who, despite obviously staring their way, turned to pretend they were busy talking to each other. Rita recognized one of them to be Klaus's brother who helped her a while back. "Five more drinks, surprise them. Two of them saw you leaving the house yesterday and, now, I couldn't stop them from meeting you."

Before she could tell him that it was a pay as you order type of cafe, he had stumbled off to the table filled with his siblings. Rita took a deep breath and prepared the order, relying on instinct and gut feel about what type of drinks they might like. When she went to serve the drinks, balancing all of it on one tray, she made sure to bring the receipt.

The moment she walked towards the table, she noticed she was already being stared at. And the staring didn't stop even when she got to the table. Rita didn't really feel all that intimidated or that she might be in danger, so she just let it be and began explaining what she brought.

"Your hot chocolate." She placed the cup in front of Klaus, which he eagerly took a sip from. Rita took the time to narrow her eyes and stare back at the others. 

"Well?" The only kid in the group prompted. "Are you gonna take your sweet time?"

"Hmm." Rita looked at him. "I wondered why I felt the need to make plain black coffee. I don't usually make coffee things, despite this being a cafe, but when I do I usually go with the sweet ones. I don't serve these to kids too, but I think," Rita picked up the cup of black coffee and pushed it towards the kid, "this is yours."

"Woah." The biggest one of the bunch said as the kid looked at Rita with more suspicion and interest. "How did you know he likes that?"

Rita shrugged. "Just felt like it. Klaus told me to just surprise you with drinks. Anyway, I also feel like this is yours?" She took a glass of plain orange juice and placed it in front of him. He stared at it for a second before taking a sip from the straw and nodding his thanks.

"I have this peppermint dark chocolate frappe." She scanned the table again and placed it in front of who she thinks would like it. "Hello, Diego. Nice seeing you again."

"You too. Thanks for this. I've never tried it though, but it looks great." He took a sip. "Fuck, it is great."

"The last two drinks are both teas that I like. This is chamomile, which is a popular one and known for its calming effect." She gave that to the girl with her hair tied back. "And this is a honey lemon tea, tastes very good and it's apparently good for the throat." She placed it in front of the girl with curly hair.

She flinched when Rita placed the cup down and stared at Klaus who had his eyes wide open, looking at Rita. "Klaus," she said.

Klaus looked at her. "Allison. No."

But Allison (apparently that was her name and, if Rita remembered correctly, she was the actress in the family) only stood up, took Klaus by the arm, and pulled him outside where they stood and talked.

"So," Rita started after a bit of awkward silence, "I was meant to tell Klaus earlier, but you actually need to pay as you order." She waved the receipt at them. "He didn't pay, so if you could just...yeah."

"Oh, right." The big one searched his pockets for money. "Sorry about that and," he gestured to the two people outside, "that. That was Allison. I'm Luther. Diego, I don't have enough on me today to pay."

"Why should I do it?" Diego responded, happily sipping at his drink but rolling his eyes at Luther. 

"It's interesting how you figured out what drink we'd like." The kid leaned forward, a tone in his voice Rita couldn't exactly read.

"Five, stop." The other girl interrupted. "Klaus said no interrogating. Here," she fished money out of her bag and passed it to Luther. "I'm Vanya."

Rita smiled at each of them as Luther counted the payment. Her eyes landing on the last other person. "Sorry, Klaus only told me to serve 6 drinks, including his. Should I get you something to eat instead?"

Everyone on the table froze and stared at her, looked at the guy she was speaking to, then looked back at her.

"Do you see me?" He asked, pointing to himself.

"Am I not supposed to see you?" Rita smiled, but now looking more confused with the reactions of the others.

"What the fuck, she can see me." He whispered loudly without blinking.

"You can see Ben?" Diego asked.

Rita furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that his name? Huh, where have I heard that before?"

When Rita was about to follow-up and say that  _ yes _ Ben is a common name, but she's sure she's heard the name recently, Allison barged in through the doors, the bell ringing violently and Klaus desperately trying to keep up. 

"Allison, honestly, stop—"

"We have to check, Klaus."

"Hey guys, new development. She—"

"Not now, Diego." She interrupted before stopping right in front of Rita and looking straight into her eyes.

Rita gave a little wave. "Hello, I'm Rita."

"Yes, well," Allison started despite Klaus still protesting. "I heard a rumor that you're going to tell us right now what your true intentions are in being Klaus' friend."

A beat of silence.

"Wow, when Klaus said you guys get suspicious when one of you makes friends, he really means it." Rita crossed her arms and huffed. "I think it's a bit rude, though, to think people always have some ulterior motive to befriending your brother."

Allison looked taken aback and the rest of them, including Klaus had their mouths open in surprise. 

"Maybe... Maybe she has no true intentions?" Luther proposed.

Five shook his head. "No, no. Even if she really did just want to be friends, who knows why, she would've said so."

Allison looked around and caught sight of the money in Luther's hands prepared for payment. She looked back at Rita with determination. "I heard a rumor that you're giving us all these drinks for free."

"That…" Rita faltered, her arms going back down to her sides. "That's really bad for business, though? I'm not the owner, they would dock this off my paycheck. So, that's a no from me."

"Holy shit." Klaus whispered, attracting Rita's attention.

"I don't understand, did you tell your sister I'll be giving them for free? Because I'm not." She glared to emphasize the point. "Or is this some celebrity entitlement thing that you think we just give shit out for free? You're an actress, right? Is that it?"

"She can see Ben." Vanya stated, looking at Klaus.

"Holy shit." He repeated, with more emotion.

Rita looked at all of them staring at her with wide eyes. "What the fuck is going on?"

• • • ☂︎ • • •

She later found herself sitting in the living room of Klaus' home. They had rushed her to take the rest of the day off from the cafe and practically dragged her to their place without much of an explanation. With the exception of Klaus who was sitting beside her, the rest of the siblings were in a heated discussion, practically talking over one another.

"—trust her? I mean, we don't even—"

"—just calm down! We should all just—"

"Personally, I don't see how this is a problem since—"

"—why the fuck did that happen then? Can you explain that?!"

"—know nothing, do we? Maybe we can look through old—"

"Well, Klaus knows her best so why don't we—"

"—pretty much impossible. Allison's trick works even with us, so—"

"How did she see you? Does that even make—"

Klaus' grip on her wrist tightened for a second before he breathed out and stood up. Rita watched as he went towards one of the shelves at the sides and picked up a small ornament, weighed it in his hands, and hurled it across the room. The shattering noise shut everyone up as they stared at Klaus. 

"What the fuck, Klaus?" Luther said, looking at the broken ornament.

Klaus looked at each of them, then sighed. "Rita… She grew up in an orphanage."

The heads all quickly turned to Rita.

"When's your birthday?" Diego asked.

"February 20, 1990." Klaus replied instead, but he was looking at her as well. "But that's not exactly true, is it?"

Rita, with her fast instincts, reliable gut feel, and moderately high level of perceptiveness, could see where they were going with this. "No, not exactly, I guess. That was the day I was dropped off on the steps of the orphanage, but I was told I must have been a few months old by then. Don't know when my actual birthday is."

Klaus smiled at her, seeming to notice her nervousness and trying to comfort her. "It's October 1, 1989. Birthday buddies, yay!"

"We're not exactly 100% sure, but..." Diego trailed off.

"It's the most logical explanation." Five continued, nodding. "The pieces fit, especially with the orphan situation, which means you don't know details about your birth."

"You have this weird perceptiveness, and maybe that's just the instincts of someone who works at a cafe, but you could also resist Allison's power." Vanya explained patiently. "I don't think it's something normal people can do. Even we can't do that."

"And you could see me." Ben added. It clicked then in Rita's head that Ben's name was one of the names Klaus mentioned to see the ghosts of. "Klaus, and the people he allows, should be the only one to do that. You weren't a part of that."

Klaus sat back down beside her. "Then there's that thing I told you. For some reason you help keep the ghosts at bay. Sometimes. I don't get the whole concept yet since Ben is here, but there is a concept."

"So, what you're all saying is..." Rita stopped, not knowing exactly how she wanted to end the sentence.

Klaus exchanged looks with the others before turning back to her. "Well, Rita Lewis, you're one of us."

• • • ☂︎ • • • _end_ • • • ☂︎ • • •

**Author's Note:**

> ✓ Originally, this was supposed to have a second chapter in Klaus' POV to make it clearer... No one knows if that's still gonna happen.  
> ✓ Basically, if you didn't get it, she has this shield against the powers of the siblings, hence the title. And also, yes, that was kind of Bella's powers in Twilight. (Tbh that was the only thing I liked about the series)  
> ✓ This was slightly inspired by We'll Be Okay by hade5 on ff.net purely because I loved seeing Klaus have a friend.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading this! Enjoy UA S2!
> 
> EDIT: I made a post-S2, canon compliant fic with Rita in it !! It's called '0123456' if you're interested

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [123457 + (0123456)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25725739) by [aaeiilnn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/aaeiilnn), [numberzero (aaeiilnn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero)




End file.
